


The Record Store AU

by tugboat_505



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-22 13:15:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4836701
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tugboat_505/pseuds/tugboat_505





	The Record Store AU

Author’s note: I would like to start by acknowledging that this AU is entirely based off of the idea of an unknown tumblr user. Screen shots of their post urging someone to write something with their idea came to my attention and I thought it was a really nice story so here we are. I take no credit for any themes or ideas, only the writing itself. 

PART 1

 

Louis’ fingers fanned over the rows of records, eyes scanning for the perfect album. “Here we are” He pulled the record from the shelf, slowly walking back over to the register where Zayn was standing, elbows propped up on the counter, watching a fly buzzing around him. It was humid outside and Zayn’s boss couldn’t afford a new AC. Louis’ flat, however air conditioned and comfortable, was sending him stir crazy this semester break so he’d agreed to keep Zayn company and help around the store for a few days. 

They’d already organised each and every shelf in alphabetical order as well as order of genre and replaced all the older posters on the wall that were peeling off at the corners with newer ones. There were no customers around so they decided to take a break and listen to some music. 

“How did I know you’d pick the killers?” Zayn rolled his eyes, taking the vinyl from Louis and disappearing into the back room where they kept the record player.

Louis shuffled around the counter to flick through the boxes of new stock, his eyes quickly landing on the new album from Bombay Bicycle Club, “Hey Z” he called over his shoulder “Reckon I can pinch one of these?”. The song ‘Runaways’ filled the airwaves, vibrations in the atmosphere sending chills down Louis’ spine. 

Zayn’s head poked around the corner almost out of nowhere “Yeah whatever man, not like Leo can fire me anyway, I’m his only employee. I’m going for a smoke, reckon you can hold down the fort for a bit?”

Louis shrugged “s’pose as long as no-one actually wants to buy something” he turned to Zayn, only to find an empty doorway “wanker” he chuckled. 

Leaning back against the counter, Louis pushed himself up using his arms, only to slide back down again, spinning around as the front door chimed.A group of school girls walked into the store, taking sight of Louis and giggling, whispering amongst each other. “Can you point us to Lana Del Rey?” one of them asked. 

Shit, Louis thought. He had seen some albums just today. “should be over there, loves” he pointed to the far wall, the girls blushing in another fit of giggles.

It must have been peak hour for business as more people flooded into the store. Louis was on the verge of panicking as an older couple neared the counter, but was saved as Zayn glided back into the room, coughing into his fist. “Thanks man, I’ll take it from here” he winked at Louis, nudging him out the way with his hip. 

Louis decided to make use of himself, bagging the records as Zayn punched some numbers into the ancient computer screen, “That’ll be 40 pounds” Zayn coughed again. The woman gave Zayn a concerned look, shaking her head as her husband paid and thanked the two boys. 

“shift ends in just over an hour, wanna get some food once we close up?” Zayn turned to face Louis, leaning his back against a large metal shelving unit where they kept their paperwork. It was mostly filled with receipts and order forms that Zayn had drawn weird pictures and designs over while getting high on the job.

“Yeah sure..” Louis’ gaze was immediately stolen by a tall, curly haired boy entering the store, dressed in skinny jeans and a vintage Sex Pistols tour shirt. The boys’ eyes scanned the aisles before zoning in on something, his long legs carrying him in the direction of Indie Rock and Folk Music. 

Louis was aware he was staring but he couldn’t quite bring himself to look away. The boy was stunning, tanned bulging biceps illustrated with tattoos poking out from his shirt sleeve, puffy pink lips and emerald eyes that were now met with Louis’. Fuck. Louis ran a hand through his quiff, turning to face Zayn, saying coolly that he was going to go stack records in the discount buckets. 

As he stacked, he watched the boy moving around the store, stopping at each different genre and flicking through the albums before moving onto the next. He was a vision, Louis thought. A sight for sore eyes if he’d ever seen one. 

The boy moved closer to where Louis was standing, causing him to panic and flee to the Classic Rock section, pretending to busy himself. He angled his body so that from the corner of his eye he could see the boy, shifting the weight on his feet as he ummed and ahhd.

He was staring again and a few other customers seemed to notice him awkwardly hiding behind a Ziggy Stardust album he was holding up, just incase the boy came any closer and he needed to hide his face. His heart was racing, his cheeks flushing hot. He wanted to do things to this boy. Lots of things. Including dating him and maybe holding his hands which were large and looked way too soft to belong to a teenage boy.

The boy turned to move Louis’ way, Louis’ hand immediately flying to cover his face with the album he was gripping, pretending to be studying the fine print in the lower corner. He could hear the boy huff a small laugh as he moved past him. Ziggy’s portrait had aligned perfectly with Louis’ shoulders. 

Once certain the boy had passed, Louis shoved the record back into it’s slot and moved further down the aisle, finding himself in the Chidlren’s Nursery Rhyme section. He kept his head down, shoving his hands in his pockets and whistling a tune. He looked up to find the boy looking towards him, shooting him a smile. Code red, Louis nearly choked. He had dimples. Fucking dimples. Louis smiled back, walking further around the aisle so he was now standing on the opposite side to the boy, a much subtler view. He noticed the boy pick a record up and nod to himself and quickly rushed back to the counter before the boy could get there himself, trying to remain as cool as possible. Zayn was standing at the register, watching as the boy walked towards them, eyes still glued to the record in his hands. Louis reached out and grabbed at Zayn’s shirt, twisting his nipple through the thin fabric. “Ouch!” Zayn cried, causing the boy to look up at them for a short moment before his gaze returned to the Sam Smith album he had picked out. 

“Let me do this, please” Louis silently begged, pushing Zayn out the way and turning quickly to the register just as the boy reached he counter, placing down his item and fishing in his back pocket for his wallet. “Hi” Louis quirked up “Just this one today?”  
The boy nodded, smiling up at Louis, his dimples popping and making Louis melt “Yep just the one, thanks. Say, have I seen you around campus before? University of Manchester?” He stared up at Louis, one long finger pointing at him. Louis tried to push the thought of suckling on that finger out of his mind. 

“Yeah, probably. I’m Louis” He blushed, holding his hand out to the boy.

“Harry” The boy shook his hand with a firm grip. Louis almost forgot how to breathe. 

Harry, Louis repeated to himself in his head. Harry, Harry, Harry, Harry, HARRY. He picked the record up and began typing the barcode numbers into the screen, then pressing the big cash button on the bottom right hand corner. This was easy. 

The machine made a loud beeping sound and a small window popped up informing Louis of an incorrect item number and to please try again. Louis swallowed nervously, he could feel the boy’s eyes on him, causing his skin to burn up. He typed the numbers out once more and hoped to god it would go through this time, clicking the cash button again. Beep.

“Everything alright man?” Zayn wondered over from one of the aisles, a shit eating smile on his face. Louis stepped to the side and let Zayn work his magic, smiling embarrassedly back up at Harry. “So, Ziggy Stardust, huh?” Harry grinned. 

“Wha- oh! Yeah” Louis chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck, unable to say anything else in fear of looking like even more of a tool.

“Alright so that will be 14 pounds 50 thanks” Zayn broke the awkward silence, taking Harry’s money, the cash register making a ‘ting’ noise that almost made Louis jump out of his skin. Zayn handed Harry his change and bagged the record for him, waving goodbye. 

“See you around, Louis” Harry waved.

“Cool” Louis moved to stand up straight, tripping over his own feet, steadying himself on the countertop. Harry giggled and thanked Zayn again before disappearing out into the street. 

“Cool” Zayn mocked Louis, smacking him in the back of the head. 

“Shut up, you” Louis’ face reddened, crossing his arms over his chest “Don’t you have a job to do?”

***************************************

PART 2

It was a week later when Zayn rocked up to Louis’ flat for Fifa night, a smug look on his face. “Guess who swung by the store looking for you today?”

Louis reached into the overhead cupboard, looking for snacks, his eyes rolling to the back of his head “I told Mum to stop bothering you a-“ 

“Not your mum you tosser” Zayn barked, wiggling his eye brows “let’s just say it was a certain curly haired vixen”

“Harry?!” Louis almost hit his head on the pantry door “Was looking for me? Like, me? Louis Tomlinson, me?”

“Yes you, dickhead. Said he had an old Ziggy Stardust DVD for you. Don’t know why he would-“

“Oh God he thinks Im a proper Bowie Fanatic” Louis buried his face in his hands “I can never show my face in public again”

“He also thinks you work there” Zayn reminded him “Said he’s pop in again some other day. Asked when you were working next so I made up some shit and said you were there most days”

Louis’ head shot back up, glaring at Zayn “You what?” He groaned, shoulders hunched, dragging his feet towards the living room “Now what am I gonna do? Pretend I work at Leo’s? What’s Leo gonna have to say about that?”

Zayn chuckled, following closely behind “Leo is a 45 year old stoner living with his mum in Hull, I don’t think he’d notice if we were trafficking cocaine in the middle of the bloody shop” They both plonked down on the couch "Besides, he only really comes in once a week to pick up the banking. No one will know you’re a fake employee AND you already know the ropes to the place anyway, I’ve just gotta computer train you” He poked Louis’ ribs teasingly. 

“Thanks, Z. I’d forgotten about my little system error until now” 

Louis started hanging around the store more often, helping Zayn from time to time out but mostly pining after Harry, who every so often came in to buy another record. He had given Louis the Ziggy Stardust DVD and explained that he had it lying around the house for unknown reasons and didn’t have any use for it. Louis thanked him politely, kicking Zayn in the shin as he passed by, laughing obnoxiously. 

Louis had gotten better at the computer and always processedHarry’s purchases and then Harry would stay for a few more minutes and make small talk. He was studying photography and film at University and worked part time at a nearby bakery. Louis tried not to imagine Harry in a frilly apron and nothing else, icing cupcakes and rolling dough.

“Dude you know I love you, but you’ve got to stop spending all your time here. It’s getting ridiculous man” Zayn had said one day after Harry left the store, Vampire Weekend Vinyl in hand. 

“Oh come on, don’t act like you’re not enjoying my company. Besides, it’s not like I’m getting in the way or anything” A proud Louis sat back in the old arm chair perched in the corner of the room kicking his legs up, arms rested behind his head. 

“Your chip packets are all over the register” Zayn pointed to the food wrappers scattered across the bench top “The other day you left your skateboard lying around and some lady tripped over it!”

Louis made a pained face “Ouch.”

“I think you should see other stores” Zayn said in a dramatic voice “It’s not you” He pointed to his chest and whispered “it’s me”

Louis let out a loud laugh and nodded “You’re right, I should probably face the real world again. Besides, Uni starts up again in a few weeks so I guess I’ll just have to come up with an excuse to hang around the photography building all the time”

Zayn rolled his eyes, chucking an empty can of pringles at Louis “you’re unbelievable, Tomlinson”

***********************************************************************************

PART 3

“Come on Zayn! I’m starving” Louis called into the back room of the record store. He had popped in at the end of Zayn’s shift before their plans to go eat and then get high at the park. Leo snoozed in the old arm chair, hair matted to his sweaty forehead. How he ran this place by himself while Zayn was at uni was a mystery. 

“Give me a minute yeah? Gotta clean up back here before I head out” Zayn called back.

Louis huffed and walked over to the rows of records, immediately drawn to an old Blink-182 album. One of their firsts, if he remembered correctly. 

“Excuse me?” Louis felt someone tap him on the shoulder. He turned to see a young girl, probably 13 or 14 years old, wearing a cropped Nirvana tee shirt. He mentally groaned, as if this child even knew who Nirvana were. “Do you guys exchange records? I’ve got some that I don’t want anymore” 

Louis let out a small laugh “Sorry love, don’t work here”

The girl snapped her gum, staring at him blankly “Of course you do, I see you here all the time”

“Um, no I don’t. I think I’d know if I worked here”

“I see you behind the counter all the time. Louis right? Everyone knows you work here, the girls at school are always talking about the two fit lads from Leo’s Records. Zayn and Louis…”

Louis tried not to be sick at the thought of 13 year old girls referring to him as fit. “Seriously, I don’t work here, my friend does, go bother him” He turned his back to the girl, flicking back through the selection of circa 1997 Blink albums before being rudely interrupted once again by a cough. 

“Look-“ He spun back around, only to freeze in his tracks. Harry was now standing over him, a curious look on his face. Louis hadn’t seen him earlier. Had he been in the store this whole time?

Louis’ face flushed crimson as he nervously adjusted his denim jacket “Harry, hey. Listen about all that, you see I-“

“You seriously don’t work here?” Harry interrupted. Louis couldn’t read his expression. 

Louis couldn’t lie to him, not after that little scene. He nodded, shrinking down to the size of an ant, or so he felt. 

There was a long and awkward silence, then Harry beamed “Great because I kinda don’t actually own a record player”

Louis’ eyes widened, breath caught in his throat “wha”

Harry laughed, his cheeks tinging soft pink “The first time I came in, I was looking for a gift for a friend” His stared nervously at the floor, running a slim hand through his unruly curls, “then I saw you and now I have all these presents to last the next 7 years of birthdays”

Louis was still lost for words, staring at Harry, mouth agape.

“So” Harry looked back up at Louis, chewing on his bottom lip. Louis wanted to bite it for him. “Do you maybe wanna go out sometime? Like, with me?” The taller boy blushed. 

****************************************************************************

PART 4

“Don’t open your eyes yet!” Louis giggled, guiding Harry into his kitchen, their fingers linked together. Harry’s free hand was plastered over his eyes, a goofy smile on his face “What on earth is all this about, Louis?”

Louis grabbed Harry by the shoulders and positioned him in front of the bench top, placing a soft kiss on his forehead “Okay, you can open them”

Harry removed his hand from his eyes, a cautious look on his face as he blinked them open. A large rectangular gift sat in front of him, wrapped atrociously in gold wrapping paper, a small bow sat atop. “Wrapped it myself” Louis gushed. 

“Louis you-“

“Shhhh” Louis placed his hands on Harry’s shoulder, reaching up on his tippy toes to kiss the taller boy’s forehead, Harry catching Louis’ lips in his own. “Just open it, okay?” Louis had a proud grin on his face, stepping back to give Harry some space. 

Harry began unwrapping the large object, stopping a few times to smile up at Louis “What did I do to deserve you?”

Louis snorted “Oh come off it! just open it already!”

When Harry finally figured out how to unwrap Louis’ handiwork, he pulled the last of the gold paper back, staring in awe, his mouth making an O shape. Louis watched him fondly. “Louis, you… You bought me a record player?” Harry’s eyes shot up to meet Louis’. His dimples popping with a toothy grin, “wait.. our anniversary isn’t for another month?” His brows knitted together. 

Louis moved closer, looping his hands behind Harry’s neck, pressing his smaller body to Harry’s “Today’s our anniversary too. The day you first came into the store” He planted soft kisses from Harry’s cheek to the corner of his mouth. 

“I see” Harry giggled “Ziggy Stardust, yeah?” He planted a wet Kiss on Louis’ mouth. 

“I have a confession to make” Louis said said through closed lips. Harry leaned back, a curious look on his face.

“And that would be?”

Louis held in a laugh “I don’t even like David Bowie. I was just trying to hide the fact that I was totally staring at you”

Harry tilted his head from side to side, contemplating what Louis had just said before very smoothly stating “I know.”

“You knew?” Louis blushed, whacking his hand against Harry’s chest.

“What? You don’t think I was watching you too?” Harry teased, his hand smoothing down Louis’ lower back, cupping his arse cheek. 

Louis let out a exasperated laugh, closing the distance between them and attaching their lips once more, kissing Harry deeply and lovingly. How was it that a whole year had passed and Harry still had Louis’ stomach fluttering like this?


End file.
